fitness tracker discussion!!

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BaddaBingBadaBoom
BaddaBingBadaBoom Posts: 141 Member
in Getting Started
Anyone know of any fitness tracker that can be used whilst swimming, calorie burn,
have a HRM that doesn't require a chest strap an sleep info would be a bonus!
Finding it all do confusing! I seem to be wanting to much lol!
Any
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  • BaddaBingBadaBoom
    BaddaBingBadaBoom Posts: 141 Member
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    Any reviews or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
  • BaddaBingBadaBoom
    BaddaBingBadaBoom Posts: 141 Member
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    .
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    On fitbit.com there's a comparison chart somewhere. Accurate HRM needs a chest strap I think.
  • phouc
    phouc Posts: 32 Member
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    I went with the Fitbit Surge but I dont swim. You may want to look at the Tomtom Runner - they dont require a chest strap and do HR from the strap and you can swim in it but not dive more than 50m. I stayed on FB because I like the social aspect of it. It does what I need. Good luck in your search!
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
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    kecott07 wrote: »
    Anyone know of any fitness tracker that can be used whilst swimming, calorie burn,
    have a HRM that doesn't require a chest strap an sleep info would be a bonus!
    Finding it all do confusing! I seem to be wanting to much lol!
    Any

    Huge waste of money IMO,

    Use the website it's free... why do you need to be that "Accurate" with your calorie burns? Just log the amount of time you are swimming under cardio section. A HRM or a fitbit is not 100% accurate either... a fitbit wont know that you're swimming so I would rule that one out all together. A HRM is just a closer guess to a calorie burn... again waste of money IMO.

    Now sure why you would want to track your heartrate while sleeping... the website does all of this for you, you realize that? It accounts for sleeping calories...standing part of the day ... making dinner... all that stuff
  • BaddaBingBadaBoom
    BaddaBingBadaBoom Posts: 141 Member
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    That's great thanks for the info! Going to look on fitbit.com. tom tom running looks good, I actually hadn't looked at one yet!
  • Kimberly_Harper
    Kimberly_Harper Posts: 409 Member
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    I like my fitbit a lot. I don't have the one with the heart rate monitor - I was thinking about buying a separate one of those - but I don't ever have to take it off and while it may not be 100% accurate, its close and that's all I need. :smiley:
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Polar Loop can be worn while swimming: its water proof rather than just water resistant. It does have the option to pair with a heart rate chest strap - but can be used without it. From all I've read, the wrist style heart rate monitors are not as accurate... The Polar does have a sleep monitor function.

    I'm a Fitbit One user, but Hubby has the Polar and likes it. I don't believe Fitbit has a waterproof option - but some models are water resistant.
    kecott07 wrote: »
    Anyone know of any fitness tracker that can be used whilst swimming, calorie burn,
    have a HRM that doesn't require a chest strap an sleep info would be a bonus!
    Finding it all do confusing! I seem to be wanting to much lol!
    Any

  • Serendipitous_Life
    Serendipitous_Life Posts: 30 Member
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    The FitBit Flex is completely waterproof... the rest of them are water resistant. I own several different models and I truly can't say enough good things about the devices/company!! :)
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2015
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    No - according to Fitbit.com Flex is only water resistant.

    http://www.fitbit.com/flex/specs#i.15phmqma85drcw
    Serendipitous_Life wrote: »
    The FitBit Flex is completely waterproof... the rest of them are water resistant. I own several different models and I truly can't say enough good things about the devices/company!! :)

  • Serendipitous_Life
    Serendipitous_Life Posts: 30 Member
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    @StaciMarie1974 ~ oops! I thought it was waterproof.... there was something about it that made it safe for water. Anyway, I plunged it in water, etc. and haven't had a problem. :)
  • Serendipitous_Life
    Serendipitous_Life Posts: 30 Member
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    Oh! Found it... the Flex is safe to be submerged up to 10 meters (approximately 32 feet) ~ the rest of them say that they aren't safe for swimming and are designed to essentially be sweat/splash proof. Anyway OP, hope this helps!! :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    And the Fitbit's and others that may be water resistant don't have HRM, and therefore are step based formula for calculating calorie burn based on steps and distance moved.

    Swimming is totally invalid use for formula's intended for walking/running. Even if it saw the bogus "steps" of arm hitting the water hard.

    Also, HRM's that are good that have self-tests or manual entry of HRmax and VO2max figures are usually based on assumptions of using the bigger lower body muscles - not swimming muscles.
    Your HRmax and VO2max will be very different swimming, unless you just neglect your legs and have a great upper body cardio muscles, and enter in your own tested stats.

    You aren't going to find anything that works well for swimming as you've described.
    Best calorie burn would be a couple of swim sites have formula based on studies where you supply swim stroke, and pace, and time. Much like the most accurate walking/running formulas.
  • PMB0404
    PMB0404 Posts: 13 Member
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    Just a heads up as you are looking at different devices....I went with the Garmin Vivofit because it was waterproof and had the HRM (it is a strap that you wear). What I didn't ask (and should have) is whether your HRM will "talk" to your activity monitor while in the water. My Garmin doesn't because apparently the HRM connects to the Vivofit via radio waves that don't travel through water. All that being said, I can see both points on this discussion. I enjoy the real data that I get from the Garmin, especially when at the gym. Even though it isn't useful (as I originally hoped) for water aerobics, I just log those calories burned in MFP. Do you NEED one? No....but, they are another tool for tracking activity.
  • BaddaBingBadaBoom
    BaddaBingBadaBoom Posts: 141 Member
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    I think the fitbit or polar seem to best option. I have small heart issue so use a chest monitor occasionally from hospital and have been encouraged to wear one daily to particularly keep an eye on my heart rate during exercise so it would be handy to have that and now understand the problems it will have when swimming !. There's lots of things in life I dont need but want , as do we all and this is one of them. Thanks for all the info your help I'd invaluable!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    PMB0404 wrote: »
    Just a heads up as you are looking at different devices....I went with the Garmin Vivofit because it was waterproof and had the HRM (it is a strap that you wear). What I didn't ask (and should have) is whether your HRM will "talk" to your activity monitor while in the water. My Garmin doesn't because apparently the HRM connects to the Vivofit via radio waves that don't travel through water. All that being said, I can see both points on this discussion. I enjoy the real data that I get from the Garmin, especially when at the gym. Even though it isn't useful (as I originally hoped) for water aerobics, I just log those calories burned in MFP. Do you NEED one? No....but, they are another tool for tracking activity.

    Yep, the ANT frequency 5 Ghz doesn't go through water, the Polar frequency does, so they can read HR. Sadly the HR formula for calorie burn using upper body is wrong anyway, but it does let you track how well you are doing.
    Going same HR should get faster, or if limited by speed getting more fit should show lower HR over time.
  • verdejt
    verdejt Posts: 24 Member
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    The Polar A300 does pair with the H7 chest strap and can be used to track swimming accurately plus it counts steps/activity and sleep and workouts. It also comes in different colors. Go to this page http://www.dcrainmaker.com/ he tests all fitness stuff and he is pretty unbiased.
  • whitneyrabbott
    whitneyrabbott Posts: 21 Member
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    I have the Fitbit HR and love it! One downside-no water and mine likes to add flights of stairs when I drive on the highway. HR is accurate enough for me on this but it's better with the strap. I like the sleep monitor, it's helped me to adjust how I do things!
  • Tearshia
    Tearshia Posts: 20 Member
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    Does any of those trackers work with tablets?
  • Kate_UK
    Kate_UK Posts: 1,299 Member
    edited May 2015
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    aistearrealta wrote: »
    Does any of those trackers work with tablets?

    Fitbit syncs to both tablets and phones, but not all of them, check the list on the website. It does say it will sync with the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini - but this only works on the OLD version. I was very frustrated when I found this out as I bought the phone partly for this reason!!!

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